David Jones, artist and poet (1895-1974) begins his PREFACE TO THE ANATHEMATA :

'I have made a heap of all that I could find.' (1) So wrote Nennius, or whoever composed the introductory matter to Historia Brittonum. He speaks of an 'inward wound' which was caused by the fear that certain things dear to him 'should be like smoke dissipated'. Further, he says, 'not trusting my own learning, which is none at all, but partly from writings and monuments of the ancient inhabitants of Britain, partly from the annals of the Romans and the chronicles of the sacred fathers, Isidore, Hieronymous, Prosper, Eusebius and from the histories of the Scots and Saxons although our enemies . . . I have lispingly put together this . . . about past transactions, that [this material] might not be trodden under foot'. (2)

(1) The actual words are coacervavi omne quod inveni, and occur in Prologue 2 to the Historia.(2) Quoted from the translation of Prologue 1. See The Works of Gildas and Nennius, J.A.Giles, London 1841.

27 April 2015

One of the meanings associated with the word LOGOS ('The Speaking into Being of ...' ) is Law.In Law it is the Judge who, after over-seeing an assessment of facts, Speaks into Being The Sentence.. . . .

National Affairs Editor

EXCLUSIVE

The former lawyer of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran has outlined explosive allegations of corruption by the judges that sentenced the Bali nine duo to death, saying they asked for more than $130,000 to give them a prison term of less than 20 years.

But Bali-based attorney Muhammad Rifan says a deal fell through after the judges later told him they had been ordered by senior legal and government members in Jakarta to impose a death penalty.

The judges, it is alleged, then asked for an even greater sum for a lighter sentence, money Mr Rifan did not have.

The sensational claims by Mr Rifan that the initial trial of the pair was deeply corrupted were revealed by a joint investigation by Fairfax Media and the former host of SBS'Dateline program Mark Davis, a Gold Walkley-winning journalist.